Watch Dogs - Worth Watching?

I've been keeping an eye on an upcoming game called "Watch Dogs." It reminds me a bit of Ghost in the Shell or Netrunner, taking place in a world that is so connected to the internet that the most dangerous people aren't those who can commit violent acts, but can use their intellect to break through the protections placed on servers.

I just watched a 15 minute demo on IGN, and I'm basically sold on the game.




In short, the game looks amazing. The beauty of having a world connected to the internet is that if you can hack the internet, you can hack the world. This is demonstrated in a number of ways, whether it's hacking cameras to get a look at a secure area, or making the world dance to your whim (providing cover, unlocking gates, causing distractions...), or even just lining your pockets with some unsuspecting person's bank account.

I also appreciate that there are a variety of moral choices, but only the public ones actually affect you. This opens up an entirely new way to become immersed in a game. Do I always take the high road? Do I act out of self preservation and endanger civilians and only worry about myself? Or do I act like a hero of the people, but secretly do all I can to exploit them without anyone catching on? I don't know how much that will play in to the actual game, but it's nice to know that the pesky morality meter is based on public opinion and not how much I respect myself.

I also like how smooth the game plays. The protagonist actually reminds me a lot of my friend Chris. He's a total technophile and can quote the specs of any piece of hardware he's interested in. He hates paper and anything physical that could be made digital. There was even talk of a card-burning party when Warmachine came out with an app that let you use a tablet to track your game.

So when I watched the protagonist run up to a gate, hit a button on his phone, and have it open before he reached it I couldn't help but think of how action-packed the game would be. Watch Dogs is a world where you can do anything remotely, so there's no stopping, hitting a button, and then continuing on. If there's something to deal with "over there," you don't have to go to it. You just hack in to it and then go on about your business.

No more opening doors with your hands like a barbarian, and no more having to walk ALL the way to a button to push it. In the demo, a secure building was circumvented by hacking a camera inside it, followed by hacking a server within the camera's field of vision. If Chris is reading this, he's nodding his head knowing that this is a world he wants to live in.

Really though, I love that any situation has a host of possible solutions. Guns blazing is a good one, but I love the ability to strategically enter an area, outsmart everyone around me, and escape unnoticed. Being able to manipulate almost anything with a wire in it is amazing, and it's going to add a whole new depth to stealth gameplay. I got a taste of stealth in a digital world with Deus Ex, but I think Watch Dogs has what it takes to make a whole new stealth experience.

And finally, player vs player (PvP) hacking. In Dark Souls your world could be invaded by another player, effectively making you kill them before they killed you (or hilariously fell off a ledge, which I did often). Watch Dogs appears to do something similar, with players being able to enter your world and steal a portion of everything you own - money, perhaps access codes... I'm excited to see just how terrifying it is when someone invades your world. If they're just stealing money, then whatever because I can hack a billionaire. But if they're stealing information, which is always they key to everything in universes like this, then suddenly you have a very real reason to find and stop the hacker before you lose something you worked hard to acquire.

I'm interested to see more of the PvP aspect unfold. While the single player looks amazing, doing PvP right will turn it from a worthwhile game to one that creates stories you'll tell for years. Overall though, Watch Dogs is going to be a purchase for me. Whether it comes home with me, CoD Ghosts, and my Xbox One remains to be seen, but it's definitely going to hit my disc tray!


See you tomorrow!

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